Turtles cannot move when water temperatures fall below 50 degrees. This cold-stunned turtle was rescued by Network for Endangered Sea Turtles volunteer Merritt "Stoney" Stone of Colington Harbour, transported to North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, where it recovered at the aquarium’s rehabilitation center and later released into the wild.

Waveriders to host fundraiser for endangered turtles on March 9

By Donna Gable Hatch
Editor

Turtles cannot move when water temperatures fall below 50 degrees. This cold-stunned turtle was rescued by Network for Endangered Sea Turtles volunteer Merritt "Stoney" Stone of Colington Harbour, transported to North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island, where it recovered at the aquarium’s rehabilitation center and later released into the wild.

For every customer who purchases a pint of Foothills Indigenous IPA, Waveriders will donate $2. In addition, the business will donate 10 percent of its day sales to N.E.S.T. and offer giveaways.

Dennis Pohl, president of N.E.S.T, says a representative of the group will be on site from 4 to 7 p.m. to answer questions about the mission of the nonprofit organization, which is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the habitat and migration routes of sea turtles that visit Outer Banks shores.

“The support of businesses like Waveriders is invaluable,” says Pohl, who joined the nonprofit organization in 2010 because of the energy and commitment exhibited by the organization’s volunteers. “As a nonprofit, we rely on our wonderful volunteers and the support of residents and visitors who enjoy the natural beauty of the Outer Banks and want to preserve it and the creatures who call it home. We hope everyone will come to the fundraiser and find out more about what we do and how they can help us help sea turtles.”

The group works under the auspices of the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission and works closely with the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island and the National Park Service turtle management program within Cape Hatteras National Seashore. Its volunteers also work with the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation Center — S.T.A.R. — located within the NC Aquarium on Roanoke Island. S.T.A.R. center staff to successfully rehabilitate and turtles that suffered injuries — such as ingesting a foreign object, boat strikes and snagged with fishing hooks — and return them back to the wild.